Is a copay charged? There needs to be a way to give people incentives to go to the right level of care. I think my insurance has a $50 copay for emergency services if not admitted.

I'm Canadian so no copay, hospital care is publicly funded, you do have to pay for your ambulance though.

Feb 22, '13

See, if Health care was more organized he would have been triaged immediately to an urgent care where he was treated with good service and received a bill.... and forced to pay that bill just like any other service!!!

My favorite was the mom who brought her 7 year old in the middle of the night for vomiting....once....36 hours ago!! Really??? Whatever happened to saltines, ginger ale and time? Works wonders. Then she freaked out when I had to start an IV and give fluids. She asked if he really needed the fluids, I said since he isn't holding anything down yes he did, then she said it was only once awhile ago...I nearly bit through my tongue on that one!

I'd have liked to hear the answer to the question I'd have asked, "What treatment did you have in mind when you came to the ED, ma'am?"

Lol brick wall sometimes. Large volume of non-ER posters. What draws people in to this specific forum?

Right now it's on the sidebar under "liked topics," so you're going to get people that don't even realize where they're posting.

Feb 22, '13

I work in ICU, but also oriented to the ED a few times...I thought I'd like it but I learned that indeed, I am simply not cut out for ED nursing. I lack the patience and wherewithal to deal with the nonsense described above AND drop everything to attend to true emergencies. I get too confused, frustrated and overwhelmed...maybe it's just our ED (which is overwrought with structural problems as it is), I don't know.

Anyway, I remember one night I was orienting over there and a 20-something perfectly healthy young woman comes in, c/o shoulder pain after washing her kitchen floor all day. I just could not understand what she wanted us to do about it. I think she got an X-ray or something and some pain meds to take home. Diagnosis of "shoulder strain". Just weird.

I'd have liked to hear the answer to the question I'd have asked, "What treatment did you have in mind when you came to the ED, ma'am?"

I ask that question all the time when I'm having trouble getting to the bottom of a chief complaint. " what are you hoping we can do for you today." It seems to startle people into honesty ie: "I want pain meds/my MRI today/a sick note for work" etc. It saves some time and allows for educational opportunities/ referral for appropriate level of care.

Feb 22, '13

To clarify my last, we do not triage away, rather provide a list of PCPs and remind patients that they can avoid ER wait times by making apps with a GP next time they experience similar troubles.

Feb 22, '13

One of my favorite things to witness in the e.r. is when I discharge someone and ask them where their ride is they say "im calling an ambulance to take me to another hospital" I used to argue and try to reason with these people but I finally gave up and stick them in the waiting room and say "good luck with that." You just can't fix stupid!

Well-to-do lady in her early 40s, high functioning alcoholic. Wanted to come in for detox but was very obviously intoxicated and was told by the doc she needed to sober up before being admitted. So the woman went home and stabbed herself six times in the lower abdomen and arrived, still very drunk, and now requiring surgery.

When people come in with gnarly, nasty feet, it's called Walmart feet. I didn't make it up, I actually heard it first from a doctor. Maybe your Walmarts are nicer than ours, but it's common to see gnarly, nasty feet in Walmart (along with a host of other things that make me a Target shopper).

cute rn: go to U-tube video and put in people of wal-mart. it will sink in then, very funny!!!